Granny’s Quilts of Love retire

Members donated 25,000 quilts

After making 25,000 quilts over the past decade and a half, members of Granny’s Quilts of Love are retiring. The club will not host its annual fundraising dinner and auction this year.

The ladies of Granny’s have worked for nearly 15 years to make quilts for sick children who are being treated at Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock as a true labor of love.

“We have decided that this year, during which we will have donated over 25,000 quilts, will be our last,” club secretary Alice Crabtree said.

Granny’s began in 2004, when Lindsey Drue Crowder, 2, of Bentonville, was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.

Lindsey’s grandmother, Mary Margaret Webb of Pea Ridge, made her a quilt, which was admired by other children at ACH. Mary Margaret made 60 quilts, and it became apparent that these quilts, in bright colors and kid-friendly themes, were a great source of comfort to the children.

Mary Margaret and Lindsey’s fraternal grandmother, Margie Crowder, began recruiting others to help make quilts, and Granny’s was born.

“We want these quilts to remind the children how much they are loved, and to give them a sense of security as they fight a life-threatening disease,” Crabtree said.

The Friendly Stitchers of Bella Vista joined Granny’s Quilts of Love around 2009. More than 30 women from Pea Ridge, Bella Vista, Rogers, and Bentonville have together contributed more than 7,000 volunteer hours each year to make Granny’s a success.

Proceeds from the annual dinner and auction, which has traditionally been held during August at Pea Ridge High School, went toward the purchase of fabric and batting for the quilts. At monthly meetings, the members measure and cut materials, which the ladies then take home and sew together into the quilts.

Whenever a community member is making a trip to Little Rock, completed quilts are loaded up and delivered. Pea Ridge Mayor Jackie Crabtree, who makes frequent trips to Little Rock as part of his duties, is a regular deliveryman.

“Granny’s is our mission, but there is no way we could have made all of these quilts without the support of our community members and businesses that generously donated goods for our dinner and auction,” Crabtree said. “We are grateful.”

TIMES file photographs Collins White, 2, of Nashville, Ark., and his parents, Justin and Lindey White, attended the Granny’s Quilts of Love dinner and auction in 2016. Collins received a quilt from the Granny’s group while a patient at Arkansas Children’s Hospital. Granny’s members Thelma Hall, Gayle Turner (of Rogers), Janita Prophet and Sharon Wood are just a few of the ladies who make the quilts. Turner recognized the quilt Collins had as one she made.